Twins Unveil Bad News on Top Prospect, Odd Update on Joe Ryan Injury

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Joe Ryan and Walker Jenkins - Minnesota Twins
Credit: Photos: J. Ryan: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | W. Jenkins: MLB Pipeline

The (15-20) Minnesota Twins are on a rare off-day Monday, after a week where they went 3-4 between their two home series against the Seattle Mariners (1-2) and Toronto Blue Jays (2-2).

While the Twins wait for their next set of games to start on Tuesday on the road against the Washington Nationals, they also continue their wait for more information on Joe Ryan’s elbow injury, after their ace pitcher walked off the mound Sunday following just two batters faced.

While early indications on Joe’s elbow are a bit concerning, he is traveling with the team to D.C. today, according to beat reporters. The MN Twins are promising a better update on Ryan’s injury tomorrow.

Minnesota Twins give tough update on Walker Jenkins injury

However, the team did bring a more concrete information on their recently injured top prospect, Walker Jenkins. Unfortunately, it was not accompanied by good news.

According to reports, Jenkins — the No. 11 overall prospect in all of baseball (MLB Pipeline) — has a sprained a Grade 2 sprained AC joint (shoulder), and injury he suffered during a collision with the outfield wall Sunday while playing for the St. Paul Saints. Jenkins will be re-evaluated in 10 days.

Prior to his injury, Walker Jenkins was hitting .256 with a .785 OPS (2 HR, 9 RBI, 5 SB, 15 R), so he certainly wasn’t setting the minor league world on fire, at least early in the season.

Of course, that doesn’t make this injury any less devastating. According to some quick online research, Grade 2 AC Joint sprains usually take 3-6 weeks to heal and can take up to 12 weeks before it returns to full strength.

We’ll see what the MN Twins have to say about the Walker injury when they re-evaluate him ten days from now.

Why is Joe Ryan traveling with the Twins to DC?

Also… this is complete speculation. But I do find it interesting that Joe Ryan is traveling with the team to DC, especially given that Nationals team doctor, Robert G. Najarian, MD, is widely respected around baseball for his work in orthopedic sports medicine… and specifically with elbow injuries that need Tommy John surgery.

Dr. Robert G. Najarian is a board-certified orthopedic and sports medicine surgeon. With additional fellowship training in sports medicine and more than 18 years of experience, he specializes in treating the knee, shoulder, and elbow, as well as all sports-related injuries.

His area of focus is in the treatment of knee cartilage and ligamentous injury, shoulder instability and rotator cuff repair, and elbow injuries in the throwing athlete (Tommy John Surgery). He has been named a Washingtonian Top Doctor since 2016.

Inova.org

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Again, I am just irresponsibly connecting dots here (not me). But given what we know about Ryan’s injury (see below), it wouldn’t surprise me if he is traveling with the Minnesota Twins, in order to receive an easy second opinion on this mysterious elbow injury we have yet to receive news on…

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